Posts by Robb Engen
Weekend Reading: Low Interest Rates Are Here To Stay Edition
Usually one needs to read the tea leaves to interpret the Bank of Canada’s forward guidance for interest rates and the economy. Not anymore. New Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem was undeniably clear that record low interest rates are here to stay “for a long time.” It was no surprise to anyone that the…
Read MoreAre You Making Rational Financial Decisions?
Economists have long argued that, given the choices available, people will make rational decisions that provide them with the greatest benefit or satisfaction. Then behavioural economics, led by the likes of Daniel Kahneman and Richard Thaler, came along and showed how people behave irrationally all the time due to psychological, cognitive, and emotional factors. For…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: $343 Billion Deficit Edition
When the global pandemic became a reality for Canadians in mid-March, the federal government introduced a host of measures to respond to the crisis, including the Canada emergency response benefit (CERB) and Canada emergency wage subsidy (CEWS). The result was a massive spending increase as more than 8 million unique CERB applications were filed and…
Read MoreSticking To Your Financial Goals During The Pandemic
My wife and I had big plans for 2020. I had recently quit my day job to pursue my financial planning and freelance writing career full-time. We were going to travel the world, with trips booked to Maui, Italy, the U.K., and Victoria. We also had financial goals – specifically to max out our RRSPs,…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: New Rewards Credit Card Edition
Long time readers know that I’m passionate about earning and redeeming credit card rewards. It makes good sense to earn cash back or travel rewards on your everyday spending. Some of us may have even become slightly obsessive about maximizing the rewards on their spending – applying for multiple cards every year to take advantage…
Read MoreNet Worth Update: 2020 Mid-Year Review
It’s time for my biannual net worth update where I share all of the numbers on my quest to reach millionaire status by the end of this year. It’s not going to be easy, as the global pandemic has impacted everyone’s finances to some degree. I want to start by acknowledging how incredibly fortunate we…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Master Class In Retirement Planning Edition
Fred Vettese is a leading expert in retirement planning and his books, which include The Essential Retirement Guide and Retirement Income for Life, are must reads for retired or soon-to-be retired Canadians. The newly updated second edition of Retirement Income for Life will be released on October 20, 2020. The Rational Reminder podcast had Mr.…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Cheap Mortgage Rates Edition
It’s no secret that mortgage rates have been incredibly low for an incredibly long time. Even when we think rates couldn’t possibly go lower, a lender tests the waters with another record-low promotion. This time it’s HSBC with an unprecedented 5-year fixed mortgage rate of 1.99%. But as mortgage broker Dave Larock points out, there’s…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: What’s Next For Travel Edition
It’s hard to believe that just three months ago we were preparing to travel to Italy. It was one of several trips we had planned for 2020, including a return to the U.K. in July and a trip to Victoria to close out the summer. Then COVID-19 hit and our plans quickly changed. Italy was…
Read MoreHow (And When) To Rebalance Your Portfolio
Setting up the initial asset allocation for your investment portfolio is fairly straightforward. The challenge is knowing how and when to rebalance your portfolio. Stock and bond prices move up and down, and you periodically add new money – all of which can throw off your initial targets. Let’s say you’re an index investor like…
Read More